About Me

Wednesday

Georges Mantha, the brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Sylvio Mantha, played 498 regular season games in the NHL, all with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1930s. The winger had 89 goals and 191 points in that time. He added another 6 goals and 7 points in 33 Stanley Cup playoff games. He would be a part of Montreal's Stanley Cup championship teams in 1930 and 1931.

Blessed with blazing speed, Georges Mantha was described as a "whirlwind" of a player. Though never a big scorer, he was an effective scorer who also took a number of shifts on defense. He was very responsible defensively, and was mostly utilized as a checking forward.

Georges began his NHL career in 1928-29 but did little. In 1929-30 he wasn't Howie Morenz by any means, but he did get to play on his first Stanley Cup champion.

The next year he scored 11 goals as a substitute and added 5 more in the playoffs as the "Little Men of Steel" won their second straight Stanley Cup. That Montreal Canadiens team was a legendary one that had 4 Hall of Famers on it - Morenz, Aurel Joliat, George Hainsworth and brother Sylvio Mantha.
Georges would never be a Hall of Famer. After a 1 goal season in 1932-33 he re-emerged as an offensive player through the next few years. In 1936-37 he had 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points. In 1937-38 he scored 23 goals and had 19 assists for 42 points, finishing 4th in NHL scoring.

He was injured much of 1938-39 and never was the same again. As one might expect, he was subpar in 1939-40 and in 1940-41 after 6 games he was sent to New Haven of the AHL, then the Habs sold him to Washington of the AHL. He retired in 1942.

Born in 1908, Georges Mantha died as the result of Alzheimer's disease on January 25th, 1990.